This is the first of the Nazi-era buildings we visited, the Kongresshalle, or "Congress Hall" In order to get the whole thing in one picture it was necessary to get far enough away, on the other side of this small lake, that the building doesn't look very big. But it is huge! It's like a giant horseshoe with a vast empty space inside where the ruined stands of the spectators are still visible. We drove around the interior on our tour bus and even in a damaged state the building is impressive. Nazi architecture strove to impress through size and intimidation, instead of through artistry of architecture. Most disturbing is that if you check the web page above, you'll see that this wasn't the largest stadium building planned by Hitler for Nuermberg. His architect Albert Speer designed a much larger German Stadium, which could hold over 400,000 spectators! But the work on this never proceeded beyond the excavation stage. The hole that was excavated filled up with ground water, thus forming the present-day Silbersee Lake.

On the far side of this building is one section used as the "Documentation Center", a museum dedicated to explaining much of the Nazi period, from the rise of the party and its activity in Nuremberg and other cities, to the war and the Holocaust and its victims.

Congress Hall